We're in a series, and we want to be sure we all know where we've been and where we're going so we're all caught up. And, it helps us to remember these three lessons since Monday night go together. It can help to strengthen us in what we need to have have the confidence we need to trust that we have exactly what God wants us to have.
As we go about our daily lives we begin talking to people we have to start with, do you believe what the Bible says. We can let them know that we have confidence in the Word of God and we can believe what it says.
We can know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is God's Word and I have exactly what God wants me to have because His Word will judge us in the last day.
Where are the Directions?
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” — John 12:48
- 2 Peter 1:3
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The Holy Spirit by inspiration of God gave Paul the words to Know that the man of God can be complete, thoroughly furnished for all good works. There is only one thing that can help us to know that, and that is the confidence we can have in the word.
How do we know?
- That what we hold in our hands today is the same thing that was received by God in the 1st century?
- Nothing has been changed?
- Nothing has been left out?
- That we have everything we need today?
We looked at the history and how God preserved the Old Testament Law. This was mediated by angels, given to Moses and he wrote it down.
The book of Hebrews let's us know at the Old Law was inferior to the New Law. Not that the Old Law was inferior, it was exactly what God wanted them to have at the time. But, it was inferior to the New Law in the New Covenant.
When first century Christians, who were being persecuted, considered going back to the old ways, thinking it might be better, absent persecution, the Hebrews writer reminds them that the current covenant was better because it was brought to us by the Son of God.
Yet, even during the worse times for the Jews, during Jewish persecutions God preserved His word throughout the history of the Israelite nation.
Through thousands of years, during the time of the Judges, Kings, and wars with enemies such as Assyria, and Babylon when the kingdom was destroyed, God preserved the law for His people .
- King Hezekiah restored temple worship.
- Babylonians – Captives allowed to return – Ezra restored temple worship using the Law of Moses!
- Throughout the whole of Hebrew history God preserved the Old Testament scriptures.
- 12 yr. old Jesus Christ questioned the scholars - SAME!
Knowing that God preserved the Old Law we can when we hold our Bibles today, considering we have a good translation, we can be 100% confident that we are holding in our hands an ACCURATE and COMPLETE record of the Word of God.
God had his hand in the giving of the Word,
- GOD – The Father, The Originator
- GOD – The Son, The Executor
- GOD – The Holy Spirit, The Communicator
Nothing was left out in the 1st century! Nothing is left out in the 21st century!
- Colossians 2:14
To have a good understanding of the New Law, you need to have an understanding of the Old Law because it was a reflection of the better which was to come, which we have revealed.
The Old Law has been blotted out, nailed to the cross so that what we have is the better Covenant. The shadow leads us to the better. The Old Law was given to the Jews, Nehemiah 9. The Old Law is that shadow.
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” — John 12:48
If God preserved and took care of that Old Law so that His people then could follow it what would He do with the New Law based under His Son, Jesus Christ, that offers us true, real, forgiveness of sins? Would He preserve it for us?
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Nothing was left out!
GOD preserved the Old Law through feast, famine, captivity, poverty, wars and millennia of time. We still have them today 2000 years after Christ walked the earth.
GOD likewise preserved the New Testament through the feasts, famines, wars, crusades, plagues and dark ages of 2 millennia.
GOD has been no less diligent with the preservation of the New Testament than He has with the Old.
His Words, John 12:48, are going to judge us in the last days. Therefore, He preserves the whole of His Word so that we will know what it is He would have us to do.
How Can we Know the Word of God is Inspired?
God has ways of authenticating Himself.
Miracles Wonders & Sign
- Acts 2:22
God authenticated, Jesus the Christ by miracles and signs. He healed the sick, and raised the dead. God authenticated himself by signs and miracles.
- Mark 16:15-18
During the time of the apostles teaching, they didn't have the completed Bible. So, God authenticated the Word, through them, who were given gifts of the Holy Spirit, to perform miracles. The point of the miracles was to authenticate that these men had the Word of the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 3:16, 17
- Mark 16:20
- 1 Corinthians 13:10
Once we had the completed Word, those miracles were no longer needed.
- Acts 2:22, 37-38
If anyone is telling you something other than what Acts 2:38 says, they aren't telling you the truth. You're going to be judged in the last day by the Words of Jesus, not what man says. So you want to be sure that you are doing what Jesus said to do.
The miracles were for the purpose to tell people that the Words that the apostle spoke was the Word of God.
How Can We Have Confidence that the Word We Have Today, is the Word of God.
God is Eternal. He is not constrained to time. He can look down the corridors of time and see what is going to happen with 100% accuracy. It's not a guess.
When we look at prophecies we can see that God is not constrained by time. He knows what is going to happen. And, in knowing, He could inspire the Bible writers to prophesy about what was going to happen.
- Psalm 22, the Cross (written about 900 years before it happened, long before the Roman form of execution was used.)
- Isaiah 53:3-12 (written about 700 years before Jesus was born.)
If the Christian religion was some kind of hoax, when would they have been able to plan it? They would have planned it at least a thousand years before it could happen. And, why would they make up a hoax that ended with the death of the hero?
How could David, and Isaiah have known that this was going to happen to Jesus? There are over 300 Messianic prophecies that reveals details of Jesus that no one could have possibly known without Divine knowledge.
- Isaiah 7:14
- Matthew 1
The scriptures as we have them could not have been put together without someone who could see all of time with 100% accuracy.
God has left his fingerprints throughout the Bible. He authenticated Himself so that we can know and have assurance that we have everything we need.
- 2 Peter 1:3
God made sure the Christians had them in the 1st century. Nothing was left out!
God made sure those directions were written down for man. Nothing was left out!
God made sure those directions were PRESERVED. Nothing was left out!
The written Word of God, has all the power of the spoken Word. It is what is going to judge us in the last days. There is nothing that we need that was left out.
God:
- Planned
- Executed
- Confirmed
- Recorded
- Preserved
To question that the Bible is His Word, is to question the very existence of God. There will be no excuses that are acceptable. When it comes to the directions, God has it covered from the beginning to the end.
We can TRUST and LIVE and live our lives by the Word of God today. We can have confidence that the Word is the very Word we need when we face Jesus in the last day.
Assurance and Confidence
The words that are going to judge us in the last day (John 12:48) are the same words we have in our possession right now.
The scriptures came from God's mind they were delivered, communicated, and authenticated by God. They were written down by men, inspired by the Holy Spirt, and preserved by God.
What excuse does man have today for not following the inspired Word of God? --- None!
Supreme Confidence
Today, you can't believe what is said on television. You can't believe what is said... but you can have supreme confidence in the Word of God. God has given us everything that we need.
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” — James 1:21
The Bible is it. It is all there is that can save us. It can put us in contact with the blood of Christ so that we can be saved.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” — John 17:17
Trust and Obey the directions today. Live by the Word of God.
- John 12:48
His Word is going to judge us.
Won't you obey his instructions?
When we stand before God, the book of our life will be opened. It will tell everything about our life. If the word is going to judge us don't we want the book to reveal we have done what we need to do to be saved?
If you've not obeyed the gospel you read in the scriptures, Jesus said you need to believe. The knowledge of Jesus leads us to believe. He says you must repent of your sins, and confess His name before men. Jesus tells us that we must be baptized for the remission of your sins.
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." — Mark 16:16
Will the book of our life show that I've been faithful to Jesus?
If you are a Christian, have you been living faithfully? 1 John 1:9, Jesus tells us I can repent and confess my sins, as a Christian, and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.
You can have confidence and know that you are following the Words of Jesus to be able to navigate through this life. If we can help you in any way, contact us.
